[d20r] Skills and Skill Sets

[Fax Celestis]

Skills Summary
Skills work on four grades: Untrained, Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master.

Skill Sets
Upon taking the first level of a class, the player chooses a number of "skill sets" for that class, plus an additional number of skills (not skill sets) equal to the character's Intelligence modifier. Any skill listed within those skill sets trains the character in the skill as an apprentice. If a skill appears more than once, the character is trained as a journeyman. One can only be trained as a master by first being a journeyman and then taking a feat or class feature that makes you into a master of the skill.

All classes are apprentices in the Profession and Craft skills, regardless of skill sets.

Using Skills
When your character uses a skill, you make a skill check to see how well he or she does. The higher the result of the skill check, the better. Based on the circumstances, your result must match or beat a particular number (a DC or the result of an opposed skill check) for the check to be successful. The harder the task, the higher the number you need to roll.

To make an untrained skill check, roll 1d20 + your relevant ability modifier + your Wisdom modifier, plus any other modifiers from items, feats, or class features.

To make an apprentice skill check, roll 1d20 + your hero value + your relevant ability modifier + your Wisdom modifier, plus any other modifiers from items, feats, or class features.

To make a journeyman or master skill check, roll 1d20 + your hero value + twice your relevant ability modifier + your Wisdom modifier, plus any other modifiers from items, feats, or class features.

This roll works just like an attack roll or a saving throw--the higher the roll, the better. Either you’re trying to match or exceed a certain Difficulty Class (DC), or you're trying to beat another character's check result.

Circumstances can affect your check. A character who is free to work without distractions can make a careful attempt and avoid simple mistakes. A character who has lots of time can try over and over again, thereby assuring the best outcome. If others help, the character may succeed where otherwise he or she would fail.

Ability Modifier
The ability modifier used in a skill check is the modifier for the skill's key ability (the ability associated with the skill's use). The key ability of each skill is noted in its description.

Miscellaneous Modifiers
Miscellaneous modifiers include racial bonuses, armor check penalties, and bonuses provided by feats, among others.

Difficulty Class
Some checks are made against a Difficulty Class (DC). The DC is a number (set using the skill rules as a guideline) that you must score as a result on your skill check in order to succeed.

Opposed Checks
An opposed check is a check whose success or failure is determined by comparing the check result to another character's check result. In an opposed check, the higher result succeeds, while the lower result fails. In case of a tie, the higher skill modifier wins. If these scores are the same, roll again to break the tie.

Trying Again
In general, you can try a skill check again if you fail, and you can keep trying indefinitely. Some skills, however, have consequences of failure that must be taken into account. A few skills are virtually useless once a check has failed on an attempt to accomplish a particular task. For most skills, when a character has succeeded once at a given task, additional successes are meaningless.

Favorable And Unfavorable Conditions
Some situations may make a skill easier or harder to use, resulting in a bonus or penalty to the skill modifier for a skill check or a change to the DC of the skill check.

The chance of success can be altered in four ways to take into account exceptional circumstances.

Give the skill user a +2 circumstance bonus to represent conditions that improve performance, such as having the perfect tool for the job, getting help from another character (see Combining Skill Attempts), or possessing unusually accurate information.
Give the skill user a -2 circumstance penalty to represent conditions that hamper performance, such as being forced to use improvised tools or having misleading information.
Reduce the DC by 2 to represent circumstances that make the task easier, such as having a friendly audience or doing work that can be subpar.
Increase the DC by 2 to represent circumstances that make the task harder, such as having an uncooperative audience or doing work that must be flawless.

Conditions that affect your character's ability to perform the skill change the skill modifier. Conditions that modify how well the character has to perform the skill to succeed change the DC. A bonus to the skill modifier and a reduction in the check's DC has the same result: They create a better chance of success. But they represent different circumstances, and sometimes that difference is important.

Time And Skill Checks
Using a skill might take a round, take no time, or take several rounds or even longer. Most skill uses are standard actions, move actions, or full-round actions. Types of actions define how long activities take to perform within the framework of a combat round (6 seconds) and how movement is treated with respect to the activity. Some skill checks are instant and represent reactions to an event, or are included as part of an action. These skill checks are not actions. Other skill checks represent part of movement.

Checks Without Rolls
A skill check represents an attempt to accomplish some goal, usually while under some sort of time pressure or distraction. Sometimes, though, a character can use a skill under more favorable conditions and eliminate the luck factor.

Taking 10
When your character is not being threatened or distracted, you may choose to take 10. Instead of rolling 1d20 for the skill check, calculate your result as if you had rolled a 10. For many routine tasks, taking 10 makes them automatically successful. Distractions or threats (such as combat) make it impossible for a character to take 10. In most cases, taking 10 is purely a safety measure--you know (or expect) that an average roll will succeed but fear that a poor roll might fail, so you elect to settle for the average roll (a 10). Taking 10 is especially useful in situations where a particularly high roll wouldn’t help.

Taking 20
When you have plenty of time (generally 2 minutes for a skill that can normally be checked in 1 round, one full-round action, or one standard action), you are faced with no threats or distractions, and the skill being attempted carries no penalties for failure, you can take 20. In other words, eventually you will get a 20 on 1d20 if you roll enough times. Instead of rolling 1d20 for the skill check, just calculate your result as if you had rolled a 20.

Taking 20 means you are trying until you get it right, and it assumes that you fail many times before succeeding. Taking 20 takes twenty times as long as making a single check would take.

Since taking 20 assumes that the character will fail many times before succeeding, if you did attempt to take 20 on a skill that carries penalties for failure, your character would automatically incur those penalties before he or she could complete the task. Common "take 20" skills include Athletics, Search, and Survival.

Ability Checks and Caster Level Checks
The normal take 10 and take 20 rules apply for ability checks. Neither rule applies to caster level checks.

Combining Skill Attempts
When more than one character tries the same skill at the same time and for the same purpose, their efforts may overlap.

Individual Events
Often, several characters attempt some action and each succeeds or fails independently. The result of one character's Athletics check does not influence the results of other characters' Athletics check.

Aid Another
You can help another character achieve success on his or her skill check by making the same kind of skill check in a cooperative effort. If you roll a 10 or higher on your check, the character you are helping gets a +2 bonus to his or her check, as per the rule for favorable conditions. You can't take 10 on a skill check to aid another. In many cases, a character's help won't be beneficial, or only a limited number of characters can help at once--usually, this number is limited to one aide. Too many cooks spoil the broth.

In cases where the skill restricts who can achieve certain results you can't aid another to grant a bonus to a task that your character couldn't achieve alone.

Ability Checks
Sometimes a character tries to do something to which no specific skill really applies. In these cases, you make an ability check. An ability check is a roll of 1d20 plus the appropriate ability modifier. Essentially, you're making an untrained skill check.

In some cases, an action is a straight test of one's ability with no luck involved. Just as you wouldn't make a height check to see who is taller, you don't make a Strength check to see who is stronger.


Skill Descriptions
This section describes each skill, including common uses and typical modifiers. Characters can sometimes use skills for purposes other than those noted here.

Here is the format for skill descriptions.

Skill Name
The skill name line includes (in addition to the name of the skill) the following information.

Key Ability
The abbreviation of the ability whose modifier applies to the skill check. Exception: Speak Language has "None" as its key ability because the use of this skill does not require a check.

Armor Check Penalty
If this notation is included in the skill name line, an armor check penalty applies (when appropriate) to checks using this skill. If this entry is absent, an armor check penalty does not apply.

The skill name line is followed by a general description of what using the skill represents. After the description are a few other types of information:

Check
What a character ("you" in the skill description) can do with a successful skill check and the check's DC.

Action
The type of action using the skill requires, or the amount of time required for a check.

Try Again
Any conditions that apply to successive attempts to use the skill successfully. If the skill doesn’t allow you to attempt the same task more than once, or if failure carries an inherent penalty (such as with the Athletics skill), you can't take 20. If this paragraph is omitted, the skill can be retried without any inherent penalty, other than the additional time required.

Special
Any extra facts that apply to the skill, such as special effects deriving from its use or bonuses that certain characters receive because of class, feat choices, or race.


Skill Sets
Upon taking the first level of a class, the player chooses a number of "skill sets" for that class, as determined in the class' description. Selecting a skill set makes you trained as an apprentice in that skill set.

If you obtain a skill from more than one skill set, you are instead considered trained as a journeyman. Further overlap does not make you trained as a master: you may only become trained as a master through the Skill Mastery class feature or through certain feats.
Actor
Bluff, Disguise, Perform, Speak Language

Adventurer
Awareness, Heal, Ride, Survival

Artisan
Appraise, Craft, Perform, Use Device

Athlete
Acrobatics, Athletics, Awareness, Concentration

Bard
Bluff, Concentration, Diplomacy, Perform

Cartomancer
Cartomancy, Knowledge (Arcana), Spellcraft, Use Device

Cat-Burglar
Acrobatics, Athletics, Disable Device, Stealth

Courtesan
Bluff, Diplomacy, Perform, Sense Motive

Delver
Awareness, Knowledge (Engineering), Knowledge (Dungeoneering), Survival

Diplomat
Bluff, Diplomacy, Sense Motive, Speak Language

Drifter
Awareness, Bluff, Knowledge (Locale), Survival

Druid
Awareness, Handle Animal, Knowledge (Nature), Survival

Explorer
Decipher Script, Disable Device, Knowledge (Dungeoneering), Knowledge (Geography)

Farmer
Handle Animal, Heal, Knowledge (Nature), Survival

Guard
Awareness, Intimidate, Knowledge (Locale), Sense Motive

Gypsy
Bluff, Cartomancy, Perform, Sleight of Hand

Herbalist
Craft (Alchemy), Heal, Knowledge (Nature), Survival

Historian
Appraise, Decipher Script, Knowledge (History), Speak Language

Impersonator
Bluff, Disguise, Sense Motive, Speak Language

Jester
Acrobatics, Knowledge (any two: History, Locale, Nobility), Perform

Knight
Handle Animal, Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Nobility), Ride

Mage
Concentration, Knowledge (Arcana), Spellcraft, Use Device

Medic
Awareness, Concentration, Heal, Survival

Merchant
Appraise, Bluff, Diplomacy, Speak Language

Noble
Diplomacy, Intimidate, Knowledge (Nobility), Speak Language

Pickpocket
Appraise, Bluff, Sleight of Hand, Stealth

Priest
Concentration, Heal, Knowledge (Religion), Spellcraft

Proselytizer
Bluff, Diplomacy, Knowledge (Religion), Perform (Oratory)

Psion
Autohypnosis, Concentration, Knowledge (Psionics), Psicraft

Sage
Any four Knowledge skills

Scout
Acrobatics, Awareness, Handle Animal, Ride

Scribe
Autohypnosis, Decipher Script, Any two Knowledge skills

Socialite
Bluff, Diplomacy, Knowledge (Locale), Sense Motive

Spy
Autohypnosis, Disguise, Knowledge (Nobility), Stealth

Thief
Disable Device, Disguise, Sleight of Hand, Stealth

Thug
Appraise, Intimidate, Sense Motive, Stealth

Tinker
Craft, Disable Device, Knowledge (Engineering), Use Device

Trainer
Handle Animal, Heal, Knowledge (Nature), Ride

Trapper
Awareness, Concentration, Craft, Knowledge (Nature), Survival

Trickster
Acrobatics, Disguise, Sleight of Hand, Use Device

Warrior
Acrobatics, Athletics, Intimidate, Sense Motive

[Fax Celestis]

Acrobatics (Dex; Armor Check Penalty)
The Acrobatics skill can be used to balance on surfaces, escape from enclosures, or avoid blows.

Balancing
You can use Acrobatics walk on a precarious surface. A successful check lets you move at half your speed along the surface for 1 round. A failure by 4 or less means you can’t move for 1 round. A failure by 5 or more means you fall. The difficulty varies with the surface, as follows:

The following are base DCs for balancing on thin surfaces:
Surface Balance DC
7-12 inches wide 10
2-6 inches wide 12
1-2 inches wide 15
Up to 1 inch wide 20
Hair-thin1 25
Liquid1, 2 35
Cloud1 40
1You must be at least a journeyman in Acrobatics to use this function of this skill.
2Use this DC for any substantial, thin surface that wouldn't regularly bear the character's weight, such as a tree branch.

The following are DC modifiers for balancing on thin surfaces:
Surface Balance DC
Lightly obstructed +2
Severely obstructed +5
Lightly slippery +2
Severely slippery +5
Sloped or angled +2

The following are base DCs for running or charging. Failure by 4 or less means the character can't run or charge, but may otherwise act normally.

Difficult Surface Balance DC
Uneven flagstone 10
Hewn stone floor 10
Sloped or angled floor 10
Being Attacked while Balancing
You are considered flat-footed while balancing, since you can't move to avoid a blow, and thus you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any). If you are a journeyman in Acrobatics, you aren't considered flat-footed while balancing. If you take damage while balancing and are not a journeyman in Acrobatics, you must make another Acrobatics check against the same DC to remain standing.

Accelerated Movement
You can try to walk across a precarious surface more quickly than normal. If you accept a -5 penalty, you can move your full speed as a move action. (Moving twice your speed in a round requires two Acrobatics checks, one for each move action used.) You may also accept this penalty in order to charge across a precarious surface; charging requires one Acrobatics check for each multiple of your speed (or fraction thereof) that you charge.

Action
None. An Acrobatics check used to balance doesn't require an action; it is made as part of another action or as a reaction to a situation.

Escaping
You can also use Acrobatics to move through tight spaces and escape grapples.

Check
The table below gives the DCs to escape various forms of restraints.
Restraint Acrobatics DC
Ropes Binder's Survival check at +5
Net 12
Spell effect Spell's DC
Tight space 20
Manacles 25
Masterwork manacles 30
Grappler Grappler's grapple check result

Ropes: Your Acrobatics check is opposed by the binder's Survival check. Since it's easier to tie someone up than to escape from being tied up, the binder gets a +5 bonus on his or her check.

Manacles and Masterwork Manacles: The DC for manacles is set by their construction.

Tight Space: The DC noted on the table is for getting through a space where your head fits but your shoulders don't. If the space is long you may need to make multiple checks. You can't get through a space that your head does not fit through.

Grappler: You can make an Acrobatics check opposed by your enemy's grapple check to get out of a grapple or out of a pinned condition (so that you're only grappling). See the Grapple skill for details.

Action
Making an Acrobatics check to escape from rope bindings, manacles, or other restraints (except a grappler) requires 1 minute of work. Escaping from a net or an animate rope, command plants, control plants, or entangle spell is a full-round action. Escaping from a grapple or pin is a standard action. Squeezing through a tight space takes at least 1 minute, maybe longer, depending on how long the space is.

Try Again
Varies. You can make another check after a failed check if you're squeezing your way through a tight space, making multiple checks. If the situation permits, you can make additional checks, or even take 20, as long as you’re not being actively opposed.

Tumbling
You can land softly when you fall or tumble past opponents. You can also tumble to entertain an audience (as though using the Perform skill). You can't use this aspect of the Acrobatics skill if your speed has been reduced by armor, excess equipment, or loot.

Check
Acrobatics DC Task
Enemy's attack of opportunity attack bonus plus 10 Tumble at one-half speed as part of normal movement, provoking no attacks of opportunity while doing so. Failure means you provoke attacks of opportunity normally. Check separately for each opponent you move past, in the order in which you pass them (player's choice of order in case of a tie).
Enemy's attack of opportunity attack bonus1 Tumble at one-half speed as part of normal movement, provoking no attacks of opportunity while doing so. Failure means you provoke attacks of opportunity normally. Check separately for each opponent you move past, in the order in which you pass them (player's choice of order in case of a tie).
Enemy's attack of opportunity attack bonus minus your hero value2 Tumble at one-half speed as part of normal movement, provoking no attacks of opportunity while doing so. Failure means you provoke attacks of opportunity normally. Check separately for each opponent you move past, in the order in which you pass them (player's choice of order in case of a tie).
10 Treat a fall as if it were 10 feet shorter than it really is when determining damage.
15 Tumble at one-half speed through an area occupied by an enemy (over, under, or around the opponent) as part of normal movement, provoking no attacks of opportunity while doing so. Failure means you stop before entering the enemy-occupied area and provoke an attack of opportunity from that enemy. Check separately for each opponent. Each additional enemy after the first adds +2 to the DC.
201 Treat a fall as if it were 20 feet shorter when determining damage.
201 Stand up from prone as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity.
301 Treat a fall as if it were 30 feet shorter when determining damage.
352 Treat a fall as if it were 40 feet shorter when determining damage.
352 Tumble through a magically created wall (including a solid one like a wall of force without suffering its effects.
402 Ignore falling damage.
1 You must be a journeyman of acrobatics to use this function.
2 You must be a master of acrobatics to use this function.

Obstructed or otherwise treacherous surfaces, such as natural cavern floors or undergrowth, are tough to tumble through. The DC for any Acrobatics check made to tumble into such a square is modified as indicated below.

Surface Is... DC Modifier
Lightly obstructed (scree, light rubble, shallow bog1, undergrowth) +2
Severely obstructed (natural cavern floor, dense rubble, dense undergrowth) +5
Lightly slippery (wet floor) +2
Severely slippery (ice sheet)1 +5
Sloped or angled +2
1 You must be a journeyman of acrobatics to use this function.

Accelerated Tumbling
You try to tumble past or through enemies more quickly than normal. By accepting a -10 penalty on your Acrobatics checks, you can move at your full speed instead of one-half your speed.

Action
Not applicable. Tumbling is part of movement, so an Acrobatics check made to tumble is part of a move action.

Try Again
Usually no. An audience, once it has judged a tumbler as an uninteresting performer, is not receptive to repeat performances, and enemies rarely give second chances.

You can try to reduce damage from a fall as an instant reaction only once per fall.

[Fax Celestis]

Appraise (Int)
Check
You can appraise common or well-known objects with a DC 12 Appraise check. Failure means that you estimate the value at 50% to 150% (2d6+3 times 10%) of its actual value.

Appraising a rare or exotic item requires a successful check against DC 15, 20, or higher. Your DM sets this DC based upon the relative rarity of the item. If the check is successful, you estimate the value correctly; failure means you cannot estimate the item's value.

A magnifying glass gives you a +2 circumstance bonus on Appraise checks involving any item that is small or highly detailed, such as a gem. A merchant's scale gives you a +2 circumstance bonus on Appraise checks involving any items that are valued by weight, including anything made of precious metals. These bonuses stack.

Appraise can also be used to identify magical items with a DC 20 check. This is as the identify spell, except without requiring material components and the effect is completely non-magical; all other aspects (time spent, information gathered, etc.) are the same. You must be at least a journeyman of appraise to utilize this ability.

Action
Appraising an item takes 1 minute (ten consecutive full-round actions).

Try Again
No. You cannot try again on the same object, regardless of success.

[Fax Celestis]

Athletics (Str; Armor Check Penalty)
The Athletics skill can be used to climb surfaces, jump distances, or swim.

Climb
Check
With a successful Athletics check, you can advance up, down, or across a slope, a wall, or some other steep incline (or even a ceiling with handholds) at one-quarter your normal land speed. A slope is considered to be any incline at an angle measuring less than 60 degrees; a wall is any incline at an angle measuring 60 degrees or more.

An Athletics check that fails by 4 or less means that you make no progress, and one that fails by 5 or more means that you fall from whatever height you have already attained.

A climber's kit gives you a +2 circumstance bonus on Climb checks.

The DC of the check depends on the conditions of the climb. Compare the task with those on the following table to determine an appropriate DC.

{table=head]DC | Example Surface or Activity
0 | A slope too steep to walk up, or a knotted rope with a wall to brace against.
5 | A rope with a wall to brace against, or a knotted rope, or a rope affected by the rope trick spell.
8 | A surface with ledges to hold on to and stand on, such as a very rough wall or a ship's rigging.
10 | Any surface with adequate handholds and footholds (natural or artificial), such as a very rough natural rock surface or a tree, or an unknotted rope, or pulling yourself up when dangling by your hands.
12 | An uneven surface with some narrow handholds and footholds, such as a typical wall in a dungeon or ruins.
15 | A rough surface, such as a natural rock wall or a brick wall.
201 | An overhang or ceiling with handholds but no footholds.
302 | A perfectly smooth, flat, vertical surface.
402 | A perfectly smooth, flat, overhang or ceiling.[/table]
1 You must be a journeyman of Athletics to make use of this option.
2 You must be a master of Athletics to make use of this option.

These modifiers are cumulative; use any that apply.

{table=head]Climb DC Modifier | Example Surface or Activity
-5 | Climbing a chimney (artificial or natural) or other location where you can brace against two opposite walls.
-3 | Climbing a corner where you can brace against perpendicular walls.
+5 | Surface is slippery.[/table]

You need both hands free to climb, but you may cling to a wall with one hand while you cast a spell or take some other action that requires only one hand. While climbing, you can't move to avoid a blow, so you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any). You also can't use a shield while climbing. If you are at least a journeyman of Athletics, you do not lose your Dexterity bonus to AC while climbing.

Any time you take damage while climbing, make a Athletics check against the DC of the slope or wall. Failure means you fall from your current height and sustain the appropriate falling damage.

Accelerated Climbing
You try to climb more quickly than normal. By accepting a -5 penalty, you can move half your speed (instead of one-quarter your speed). Alternatively, by accepting a -10 penalty, a character can climb his or her speed as a move-equivalent action, or double his or her speed as a full-round action (requiring two Athletics checks).

Making Your Own Handholds and Footholds
You can make your own handholds and footholds by pounding pitons into a wall. Doing so takes 1 minute per piton, and one piton is needed per 3 feet of distance. As with any surface that offers handholds and footholds, a wall with pitons in it has a DC of 12. In the same way, a climber with a handaxe or similar implement can cut handholds in an ice wall.

Catching Yourself When Falling
It's practically impossible to catch yourself on a wall while falling. Make an Athletics check (DC = wall's DC + 10) to do so. It's much easier to catch yourself on a slope (DC = slope's DC + 5).

If you fall, you can also attempt to use the Grapple skill to catch yourself. See the Grapple skill for details.

Catching a Falling Character While Climbing
If someone climbing above you or adjacent to you falls, you can attempt to catch the falling character if he or she is within your reach. Doing so requires a successful melee touch attack against the falling character (though he or she can voluntarily forego any Dexterity bonus to AC if desired). If you hit, you must immediately attempt an Athletics (or Grapple) check (DC = wall's DC + 10). Success indicates that you catch the falling character, but his or her total weight, including equipment, cannot exceed your heavy load limit or you automatically fall. If you fail your Athletics check by 4 or less, you fail to stop the character's fall but don't lose your grip on the wall. If you fail by 5 or more, you fail to stop the character's fall and begin falling as well.

Action
Climbing is part of movement, so it's generally part of a move action (and may be combined with other types of movement in a move action). Each move action that includes any climbing requires a separate Athletics check. Catching yourself or another falling character doesn't take an action.

Special
You can use a rope to haul a character upward (or lower a character) through sheer strength. You can lift double your maximum load in this manner.

A creature with a climb speed has a +5 racial bonus on all Athletics checks related to climbing and is always considered at least an apprentice when using the Athletics skill to climb. The creature must make a Athletics check to climb any wall or slope with a DC higher than 0, but it always can choose to take 10, even if rushed or threatened while climbing. If a creature with a climb speed chooses an accelerated climb (see above), it moves at double its climb speed (or at its land speed, whichever is slower) and makes a single Athletics check at a -5 penalty. Such a creature retains its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) while climbing, and opponents get no special bonus to their attacks against it. It cannot, however, use the run action while climbing.

Jump
The Athletics skill can also be used to determine jumping distance.

Check
The DC and the distance you can cover vary according to the type of jump you are attempting.

All Athletics DCs given here assume that you get a running start, which requires that you move at least 20 feet in a straight line before attempting the jump. If you do not get a running start, the DC for the jump is doubled. If you are a master of Athletics, you do not double the DC for not getting a running start.

Distance moved by jumping is counted against your normal maximum movement in a round. If your jump exceeds your maximum move distance, you complete your jump action on your next initiative count and count the distance moved against your movement in that round.

If you are at least an apprentice in Athletics and you succeed on a jump check, you land on your feet (when appropriate). If you attempt an Athletics check to jump check untrained, you land prone unless you beat the DC by 5 or more.

Long Jump
A long jump is a horizontal jump, made across a gap like a chasm or stream. At the midpoint of the jump, you attain a vertical height equal to one-quarter of the horizontal distance. The DC for the jump is equal to the distance jumped (in feet).

If your check succeeds, you land on your feet at the far end. If you fail the check by less than 5, you don't clear the distance, but you can make a DC 15 Reflex save to grab the far edge of the gap. You end your movement grasping the far edge. If that leaves you dangling over a chasm or gap, getting up requires a move action and a DC 12 Athletics check to climb up.

{table=head]Long Jump Distance | Jump DC
5 feet | 5
10 feet | 10
15 feet | 15
20 feet | 20
Each additional 5 feet | +5[/table]

High Jump
A high jump is a vertical leap made to reach a ledge high above or to grasp something overhead. The DC is equal to 3 times the distance to be cleared.

If you jumped up to grab something, a successful check indicates that you reached the desired height. If you wish to pull yourself up, you can do so with a move action and a DC 12 Athletics check to climb. If you fail the initial Athletics check, you do not reach the height, and you land on your feet in the same spot from which you jumped.

{table=head]High Jump Distance | Jump DC
1 foot | 3
2 feet | 6
3 feet | 9
4 feet | 12
5 feet | 15
Each additional foot | +3[/table]

Vertical Reach

Obviously, the difficulty of reaching a given height varies according to the size of the character or creature. The maximum vertical reach (height the creature can reach without jumping) for an average creature of a given size is shown on the table below. (As a Medium creature, a typical human can reach 8 feet without jumping.) Quadrupedal creatures don't have the same vertical reach as a bipedal creature; treat them as being one size category smaller.

{table=head]Creature Size | Vertical Reach
Colossal | 128'
Gargantuan | 64'
Huge | 32'
Large | 16'
Medium | 8'
Small | 4'
Tiny | 2'
Diminutive | 1'
Fine | ½'[/table]

Hop Up
You can jump up onto an object as tall as your waist, such as a table or small boulder, with a DC 10 Athletics check. Doing so counts as 10 feet of movement, so if your speed is 30 feet, you could move 20 feet, then hop up onto a counter. You do not need to get a running start to hop up, so the DC is not doubled if you do not get a running start.

Jumping Down
If you intentionally jump from a height, you take less damage than you would if you just fell. The DC to jump down from a height is 12. You do not have to get a running start to jump down, so the DC is not doubled if you do not get a running start.

If you succeed on the check, you take falling damage as if you had dropped 10 fewer feet than you actually did.

Action
None. An Athletics check is included in your movement, so it is part of a move action. If you run out of movement mid-jump, your next action (either on this turn or, if necessary, on your next turn) must be a move action to complete the jump.

Special
If you have the Run feat, you get a +4 bonus on Athletics checks for any jumps made after a running start.

Swim
An Athletics check can also be used to swim.

Check
Make an Althetics check once per round while you are in the water. Success means you may swim at up to one-half your speed (as a full-round action) or at one-quarter your speed (as a move action). If you fail by 4 or less, you make no progress through the water. If you fail by 5 or more, you go underwater. If you are at least a journeyman of Athletics, you instead swim one-half your speed as a move action or up to your speed as a full-round action.

If you are underwater, either because you failed an Athletics check or because you are swimming underwater intentionally, you must hold your breath. You can hold your breath for a number of rounds equal to twice your Constitution score, but only if you do nothing other than take move actions or free actions. If you take a standard action or a full-round action (such as making an attack), the remainder of the duration for which you can hold your breath is reduced by 1 round. (Effectively, a character in combat can hold his or her breath only half as long as normal.) After that period of time, you must make a DC 10 Constitution check every round to continue holding your breath. Each round, the DC for that check increases by 1. If you fail the Constitution check, you begin to drown.

The DC for the Athletics check to swim depends on the water, as given on the table below.

{table=head]Water | Swim DC
Calm water | 10
Rough water | 12
Stormy water | 201, 2
Swim up waterfall, through whirlpool, or other extraordinary conditions | 403[/table]
1 You can't take 10 on a Swim check in stormy or worse water, even if you aren't otherwise being threatened or distracted.
2 You must be at least a journeyman of Athletics to make use of this option.
3 You must be a master of Athletics to make use of this option.

Each hour that you swim, you must make a DC 20 Athletics check or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage from fatigue.

Action
A successful Athletics check allows you to swim one-quarter of your speed as a move action or one-half your speed as a full-round action. By taking a -10 penalty on the check, a character can swim twice the amount as appropriate for the action used.

Special
Athletics checks made for swimming are subject to double the normal armor check penalty and encumbrance penalty.

A creature with a swim speed can move through water at its indicated speed without making Athletics checks. It gains a +8 racial bonus on any Athletics check to perform a special action or avoid a hazard and is always considered to be at least an apprentice of Athletics when making an Athletics check to swim. The creature always can choose to take 10 on a Athletics check to swim, even if distracted or endangered when swimming. Such a creature can use the run action while swimming, provided that it swims in a straight line.

[Fax Celestis]

Autohypnosis (Wis)
You have trained your mind to gain mastery over your body and the mind's own deepest capabilities.

Check
The DC and the effect of a successful check depend on the task you attempt.

{table=head]Task | DC
Ignore caltrop wound | 14
Memorize | 12
Resist dying | 15
Resist fear | Fear effect DC
Tolerate poison1 | Poison's DC
Willpower1 | 20
End Ongoing Mind-Affecting Effect2 | 30[/table]
1 You must be at least a journeyman of Autohypnosis to use this option.
2 You must be at master of Autohypnosis to use this option.

Ignore Caltrop Wound
If you are wounded by stepping on a caltrop, your speed is reduced to onehalf normal. A successful Autohypnosis check removes this movement penalty. The wound doesn't go awayit is just ignored through selfpersuasion.

Memorize
You can attempt to memorize a long string of numbers, a long passage of verse, or some other particularly difficult piece of information (but you can't memorize magical writing or similarly exotic scripts). Each successful check allows you to memorize a single page of text (up to 800 words), numbers, diagrams, or sigils (even if you don't recognize their meaning). If a document is longer than one page, you can make additional checks for each additional page. You always retain this information; however, you can recall it only with another successful Autohypnosis check.

Resist Dying
You can attempt to subconsciously prevent yourself from dying. If you have negative hit points and are losing hit points due to bleeding, you can substitute a DC 20 Autohypnosis check for your d% roll to see if you become stable. If the check is successful, you stop losing hit points: you do not gain any hit points, however, as a result of the check. You can substitute this check for the d% roll in later rounds if you are initially unsuccessful.

Resist Fear
In response to any fear effect, you make a saving throw normally. If you fail the saving throw, you can make an Autohypnosis check on your next round even while overcome by fear. If your Autohypnosis check meets or beats the DC for the fear effect, you shrug off the fear. On a failed check, the fear affects you normally, and you gain no further attempts to shrug off that particular fear effect.

Tolerate Poison
You can choose to substitute an Autohypnosis check for a saving throw against any standard poison's secondary damage or effect. This skill has no effect on the initial saving throw against poison.

Willpower
If reduced to 0 hit points (disabled), you can make an Autohypnosis check. If successful, you can take a normal action while at 0 hit points without taking 1 point of damage. You must make a check for each strenuous action you want to take. A failed Autohypnosis check in this circumstance carries no direct penalty—you can choose not to take the strenuous action and thus avoid the hit point loss. If you do so anyway, you drop to 1 hit points, as normal when disabled.

End Ongoing Mind-Affecting Effect
If you area affected by an ongoing mind-affecting effect, you may as a full-round action attempt to end that effect. You may attempt to end an effect in this fashion even if you would not normally be able to do so due to limited actions or control over your own mind.

Action
Making an Autohypnosis check generally doesn't require an action; it is either a free action (when attempted reactively) or part of another action (when attempted actively). Using Autohypnosis to memorize takes five minutes per page.

Try Again
Yes, for memorize and willpower uses, though a success doesn't cancel the effects of a previous failure. No for the other uses.

[Thinker]

At first I thought that the DC's would have to be scaled up to account for a higher bonus, but then I ran the numbers. Under favorable conditions for the d20r character, she makes out well versus her 3.5e counterpart. It looks like the skill-minded character will be able to take on similar challenges at similar levels. I have three concerns with this.

Skilled characters will have to focus a bit more on Int as they level up until high levels to keep up. Skilled characters will still be required to have +skill items and plus-ability items, though I'm not sure if your intention was to change this. Finally, any class that makes a hero level equal to class level, a class that confers this ability to others, or anything that does similar, will really, really rock at skills.

The final point is my largest concern. There are only a handful of options to correct this as presented. You can approach skill balance as being a neglected add-on, in which case it doesn't really matter. Optionally, you can scale the DC's so that they expect a leader/hero level booster to be in the party, thus practically demanding it for skill challenges. Finally, you can leave DC's as-is, but make them trivial for any group with a heroic type.

For quick reference, here is the 3.5e DC table:

{table]Difficulty (DC) | Example (Skill Used)
Very easy (0) | Notice something large in plain sight (Spot)
Easy (5) | Climb a knotted rope (Climb)
Average (10) | Hear an approaching guard (Listen)
Tough (15) | Rig a wagon wheel to fall off (Disable Device)
Challenging (20) | Swim in stormy water (Swim)
Formidable (25) | Open an average lock (Open Lock)
Heroic (30) | Leap across a 30-foot chasm (Jump)
Nearly impossible (40) | Track a squad of orcs across hard ground after 24 hours of rainfall (Survival)
[/table]


I am assuming that it will be easy for players to have journeyman level skills at level 1. I will compare a level 1 character with 14 Intelligence and 16 Dexterity, who takes Escape/Escaping as a class/journeyman skill as there is no discernible benefit to becoming a Master. I will also increase Dexterity every 4 levels and the character will purchase a +Dex item every 6 levels, a +Dex tome at level 20, a +Int item every 10 levels, and a +skill item every 4 levels (+2 at lv4, +5 at lv8, and +10 at lv12). Final stats: 32 Dex/18 Int/Item +10.

{table]Ed | Level | Total | Ranks | Ability | Hero | Misc.
3.5e | 1st | +7 | +4 | +3 | -- | --
d20r | 1st | +8 | -- | +6 | +0 | +2 (Int)
3.5e | 5th | +13 | +8 | +3 | -- | +2 (Item)
d20r | 5th | +12 | -- | +6 | +2 | +2 (Int) +2 (Item)
3.5e | 10th | +23 | +13 | +5 | -- | +5 (Item)
d20r | 10th | +23 | -- | +10 | +5 | +3 (Int) +5 (Item)
3.5e | 15th | +34 | +18 | +6 | -- | +10 (Item)
d20r | 15th | +32 | -- | +12 | +7 | +3 (Int) +10 (Item)
3.5e | 20th | +44 | +23 | +11 | -- | +10 (Item)
d20r | 20th | +47 | -- | +22 | +10 | +5 (Int) +10 (Item)
[/table]

[Fax Celestis]

Take the skill items off the d20r side. I won't be including them in any readily affordable fashion.

The balance point I'm working off: a DC 35, for a 20th level solo journeyman with no hero value boosts, is a 50/50 chance.

[Thinker]

Take the skill items off the d20r side. I won't be including them in any readily affordable fashion.

The balance point I'm working off: a DC 35, for a 20th level solo journeyman with no hero value boosts, is a 50/50 chance.

Alright. Is something like this your new table then?
{table]Difficulty (DC)
Very easy (0)
Easy (10)
Average (22)
Tough (26)
Challenging (28)
Formidable (32)
Heroic (35)
[/table]

Without +Skill items, here is the breakdown by level for a journeyman's skill. I will assume that the ability is raised every 4th level, that every 6th level a new +2 ability item is purchased, and at level 19 a +5 ability tome is purchased. Also, every 10 levels a new +2 Int item is purchased. I realized after I got to the end that you probably meant no ability boosters as well. I will make a second table without ability boosts.


{table]Level | Total | Ability | Hero | Intelligence
1st | +9 | +6 | +0 | +3
2nd | +10 | +6 | +1 | +3
3rd | +10 | +6 | +1 | +3
4th | +11 | +6 | +2 | +3
5th | +11 |+6 | +2 | +3
6th | +14 | +8 | +3 | +3
7th | +14 | +8 | +3 | +3
8th | +17 | +10 | +4 | +3
9th | +17 | +10 | +4 | +3
10th | +19 | +10 | +5 | +4
11th | +19 | +10 | +5 | +4
12th | +22 | +12 | +6 | +4
13th | +22 | +12 | +6 | +4
14th | +23 | +12 | +7 | +4
15th | +23 | +12 | +7 | +4
16th | +26 | +14 | +8 | +4
17th | +26 | +14 | +8 | +4
18th | +29 | +16 | +9 | +4
19th | +33 | +20 | +9 | +4
20th | +37 | +22 | +10 | +5
[/table]


{table]Level | Total | Ability | Hero | Intelligence
1st | +9 | +6 | +0 | +3
2nd | +10 | +6 | +1 | +3
3rd | +10 | +6 | +1 | +3
4th | +11 | +6 | +2 | +3
5th | +11 |+6 | +2 | +3
6th | +12 | +6 | +3 | +3
7th | +12 | +6 | +3 | +3
8th | +15 | +8 | +4 | +3
9th | +15 | +8 | +4 | +3
10th | +16 | +8 | +5 | +3
11th | +16 | +8 | +5 | +3
12th | +17 | +8 | +6 | +3
13th | +17 | +8 | +6 | +3
14th | +18 | +8 | +7 | +3
15th | +18 | +8 | +7 | +3
16th | +21 | +10 | +8 | +3
17th | +21 | +10 | +8 | +3
18th | +22 | +10 | +9 | +3
19th | +22 | +10 | +9 | +3
20th | +23 | +10 | +10 | +3
[/table]

I think characters will have up to +4 based on racial benefits and feats, but those are not included in this. This gives just under 50/50 at level 20.

This basically means that any group with a hero level booster (or anyone with a hero boost) will fairly quickly accomplish all of the most difficult tasks. At level 10 a hero level equal to character level is the same as a level 16. The other heroic feats also add to this. Optimized for skills, a level 6 character can have a +20 [+8 (ability) + 6 (hero value) + 2 (intelligence) + 2 (racial) + 2 (feat)]. Intrepid Future gives +2 hero value; any other heroic feat increases by +1; the ability starts at 18; the race is good at this skill; he took a feat for the skill. This character is better at this skill than a typical example of a 15th level character. He might not have even had to sacrifice other areas for this benefit because heroic feats rock and, in the case of a skill tied to an ability he would be pumping anyway, he gains benefit from there. He also hits your DC 35 mark 30% of the time.

[lesser_minion]

I think any skill-boost item could easily be handled either as "re-roll a check" or "+5 to a successful check". Both of those are strong enough to be worth pursuing, but neither of them would let you do anything meaningful that was out of your reach.

Both of those can be eyeballed as having about the same weight as well.

[Violet Octopus]

I think any skill-boost item could easily be handled either as "re-roll a check" or "+5 to a successful check". Both of those are strong enough to be worth pursuing, but neither of them would let you do anything meaningful that was out of your reach.

Both of those can be eyeballed as having about the same weight as well.
I like "reroll a check", alternately "You are treated as an apprentice in a certain skill. This item has no effect if you are already trained in that skill."

[lesser_minion]

I like "reroll a check", alternately "You are treated as an apprentice in a certain skill. This item has no effect if you are already trained in that skill."

Well, the idea was for each item to use the option that fits best -- a magic hammer might give +5 to successful craft checks since degree of success is relevant, while magic boots might give you a re-roll of Stealth checks to remain unheard.

Also, Fax, what are your thoughts on Take 20?

[Draz74]

I really don't like the increased emphasis on Intelligence in the skill system. Comparing, say, a Wizard to a Sorcerer, I always thought the Sorcerer should be the more skilled of the two, at skillful tasks not related directly to scholarship (i.e. skills that aren't inherently INT-based). That would ... not be the case here. Even if you did something harsh like restricting the Wizard class to a single skill set, she'd still come out on top, considering she gets to train an additional number of skills equal to INT modifier, and add her INT mod to every skill check, ever.

I guess really this is mostly a reflection of my larger problems with the six ability scores and their ambiguities. Intelligence means too many things in the game, many of which really aren't all that related ...

[Fax Celestis]

I really don't like the increased emphasis on Intelligence in the skill system. Comparing, say, a Wizard to a Sorcerer, I always thought the Sorcerer should be the more skilled of the two, at skillful tasks not related directly to scholarship (i.e. skills that aren't inherently INT-based). That would ... not be the case here. Even if you did something harsh like restricting the Wizard class to a single skill set, she'd still come out on top, considering she gets to train an additional number of skills equal to INT modifier, and add her INT mod to every skill check, ever.

I guess really this is mostly a reflection of my larger problems with the six ability scores and their ambiguities. Intelligence means too many things in the game, many of which really aren't all that related ...
Without the Int-to-skills, it turns the stat into a one-trick pony.

[Draz74]

Without the Int-to-skills, it turns the stat into a one-trick pony.

Yeah, that's true.

If INT gets added to all skill checks, could you change the number of extra trained skills for a character into some other quantity (a different ability score, or just a constant number)? Or vice versa? Part of what's bothering me is the quadratic effect of Intelligence on skill use.

[Fax Celestis]

If INT gets added to all skill checks, could you change the number of extra trained skills for a character into some other quantity (a different ability score, or just a constant number)? Or vice versa? Part of what's bothering me is the quadratic effect of Intelligence on skill use.

WIS for extra skills, maybe?

[Draz74]

WIS for extra skills, maybe?

I like that a little better, yeah. This will lead to dedicated skillmonkey Rogues not being able to dump Wisdom, which may bother people who hate MAD. But I'm ok with it ... I always thought Rogues should have a little more affinity for Wisdom, what with Wisdom affecting Spot/Listen/Sense Motive and all.

[Tael]

I'm really unenthusiastic about having hero value be a part of how good your skills are. For one, it makes anything that adds to your hero value really boost your skills, which makes very little sense for what hero value seems to be. (Legendary Hero from Radiant Pyrearch increases all your skills by at least 3 or 4? Really?) Also, hero value already does lots of things, and adding it to skills means that hero value boosters are really really good. Also, like was previously said, it makes it easily optimizable. I would personally make it a fixed scaling number, with feats that boost feats intentionally, instead of just as a side effect of boosting your hero value.

[the_archduke]

Multiclassing question:

If I start out as a soulknife, I get Psion + one other skill set.

If at level 5, I multiclass into monk, do I get the 3 additional skill sets granted by the monk class?

If so, wouldn't this make multiclassing as a skillmonkey really important?

[Fax Celestis]

If at level 5, I multiclass into monk, do I get the 3 additional skill sets granted by the monk class?

I don't have an answer for you. I need to figure out how exactly that works. I am, however, leaning towards only allowing overlapping sets from one class to make one into a journeyman.

[Fax Celestis]

Altered rolls to be 1d20 + hv + (2*)stat + wis instead of 1d20 + hv + (2*)stat + int.